1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exhaust pipe support body for connecting an exhaust pipe to a vehicle body in a vibration damping manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is known an exhaust pipe support body adapted to connect an exhaust pipe to a vehicle body in a vibration damping manner. The exhaust pipe support body includes, for example, like an exhaust isolator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,510,043, a tubular sleeve to which a vehicle body is attached, and an elastomeric isolator bonded to and arranged in the inner radius of the sleeve. The elastomeric isolator includes in its center portion an inside sleeve having a passage hole to which an exhaust pipe is attached.
Meanwhile, to the exhaust pipe support body, not only inputs in the vertical direction and in the lateral direction, but also force in the rotational direction may be exerted. In particular, in a case in which the exhaust pipe is supported by being suspended from the vehicle body via the exhaust pipe support body, rotational force is likely to be input to the exhaust pipe support body due to the exhaust pipe swinging in the lateral direction.
However, with the structure disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,510,043, during relative rotation of the sleeve and the inside sleeve, forces in the direction of tension and in the direction of shearing are primarily exerted on the elastomeric isolator that elastically connects the sleeve and the inside sleeve. This sometimes makes it difficult to obtain soft spring characteristics required in the vertical direction while obtaining spring rigidity of the elastomeric isolator for support with respect to input in the rotational direction.